hrh_victoria 's review for:

Freaks: Myths and Images of the Secret Self by Leslie Fiedler

4.0

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As usual, Fiedler is both brilliant in his observations and occasionally offensive in his voice. While I might dispute some of his arguments, this book has been around for a while already, and I have to respect the foundations that this text laid for future studies intersecting Freak Shows and literature with disability studies. Fiedler sets up some persuasive ideas throughout his text. I found the history laid out in the introduction to be particularly intriguing, as well as the chapters on dwarfs, which played an important role in my undergraduate honors thesis research.
Overall, I would recommend this text for those interested in learning more about freak shows throughout literature and history, though I hesitate to recommend it to those who are sensitive to non-PC criticism.